[quote]slimjim wrote:
kmcnyc wrote:
Training at altitude can reap benefits …
even if you are not competing at altitude.
It does improve your short term cardio- or your ability to recover.
Or more specifically your ability to work under partial recovery
in any match, boxing, wrestling , MMA , grappling or whatever-
at some point you are going to be working under partial recovery.
I spent a month at one point in colorado training post collegeat altitude
I had been there before for a clinic for a week
simple things like doing a 2 minute round robin were hard
sprints , hill, stair, very painful for a few days
You adapt- you progress.
. It made a huge difference- but short term.
but this is really for the elite- athletes who are truly at the top-
looking for one time or very short term small push in progress.
not milestones in progress.
kmc
I’m not trying to be a dick, but I can’t think of a better way to phrase my question so if it sounds like I’m being a prick that isn’t my intention as I’m not clear what you’re saying.
Training at altitude is beneficial because you get tired faster and therefore get to practice your given sport in a tired state?[/quote]
You aren’t a dick…good question. Well the theory goes that because you are breathing a smaller % of oxygen at altitude, your body responds by producing more red blood cells in order to more efficiently bind that lower amount of oxygen. Therefore when you come back to down sea level (and therefore normal 16% oxygen) you are much more efficient at using oxygen than someone who has not trained at altitude.
Now, critics of this say that while it is true that your body undergoes that response, because you are at altitude and that’s so hard on your body, you aren’t actually training as hard as the guy at sea level who can actually breathe. Enter altitude chambers. You sleep, read, or whatever at altitude so your body undergoes that physiological response I talked about earlier.
However, you are still training at sea level, so you can train at that higher intensity. Some triathletes and the like used to accomplish this by living a couple miles up on a mountain, but driving down the mountain to train at sea level everyday. The altitude chamber helps you accomplish this. Several MMA fighters, as well as many NFL players and other athletes, swear by this method. I’m really asking what people think about the “Live High, Train Low” method. Does it carry weight do you think? and MOSTLY, has anyone tried it???